The new Square of Ürgüp,
Ürgüp 2024 | Selim Atak, Rahmi Hızarcıoğlu, Talip Doğu Ayan
A human-made space creates its identity through a shared memory and a collective past. When we examine the development of the bus station and its surroundings, we can consider it as an ordinary example of urban improvisation, which is frequently encountered in Turkish settlements. The project area can be perceived as an unfinished part of the city, resulting from the destruction of the Kanlıca Valley by the rule makers and the random emergence of users aesthetic acceptances.
Walter Benjamin describes Naples as a porous city, where everything is left unfinished, with buildings under construction alongside ruined, decaying structures. Porosity is a spatial metaphor used to describe the diversity of temporal dimensions embedded in the physical space of the city.
Similarly, we perceive the unfinished nature, or in other words, the porous structure of the area, as the identity and potential of the project site. Our proposal is an addition made in our own language, accepting the flow of time in response to the randomness surrounding it. At this point, the value system to be created regarding the use of the space is important; because the project does not intervene beyond its boundaries or suggest any proposals. The square aims to guide the new functions that will emerge over time, but it is designed to allow this development to be shaped by the aesthetic tendencies that users themselves create. While it may be an utopian dream to expect a single project to change the signage and facade pollution in the surrounding area in a short time, we believe that imposing demands on users would be a harsh and meaningless intervention into the city’s natural development.
When we create a value system similar to the one proposed by Alois Riegl for the restoration of modern monuments for the project site, we predict that the new use of the area will prioritize its touristic value. With this inference, we think that our proposal should not only be functional and provide a meeting place for the city’s inhabitants but also be a unique square with the potential to attract visitors. Therefore, we designed our proposal not just as a square but as a permanent installation that allows for change.
The first of the three additions we suggest to be placed in the project area consists of a series of masses formed by stacking geometric forms on top of each other, dividing the square into two spaces of different sizes and shapes. We interpret the proposed addition, which acts as a permeable divider within the square, as a deliberate ruin. In this way, while dividing the square into shaded and open spaces, we are also designing one edge of the frame we have planned for our second addition. This addition is planned to be made using the region's cherry-colored stone.
As a second addition, we propose a monument representing the Kanlıca Valley and its stream, which is placed within a frame that we designed, and which incorporates the existing three sides of the area. This monument, resembling a land model within a circular border, is not a nostalgic quest but a simple critique of decisions that were made during the development process and reduced the spatial value of the project area. We plan to cover the lowest level of the monument with wavy stainless steel panels, creating a water-like appearance through the reflection of the sky. In addition to the monument, we designed a repetitive pattern resembling a meditative labyrinth on the ground, which is also part of the urban furniture. We decided to use yellow and gray travertine for the ground and the region's cherry-colored stone for the furniture.
Finally, we reorganized Güllüce Street; we placed the bus stops and taxi stand into pockets created along the street. Our third addition is placed along the edge of the square to address the level difference between Güllüce Street and the project site and to offer a unique solution for the bus stops. This addition consists of a permeable garden wall running along the perimeter, a monumental staircase, and a cover that creates a semi-open space for the bus stops. We aimed for this addition to be made with the region's yellow stone, giving it a sense of recognition.
*Svetlana Boym, "The Future of Nostalgia" (Basic Books, 2001), p. 123
(Turkish version: Nostaljinin Geleceği, trans. Ferit Burak Aydar, Metis, 2008)